Cloning and characterization of the cDNA for the Brazilian Cratomorphus distinctus larval firefly luciferase: Similarities with European Lampyris noctiluca and Asiatic Pyrocoelia luciferases

Studies on firefly (Lampyridae) luciferases have focused on nearctic species of Photinus and Photuris and Euroasiatic species of Lampyris, Luciola, Hotaria, and Pyrocoelia. Despite accounting for the greatest diversity of fireflies in the world, no molecular studies have been carried out on the highly diverse genera from the neotropical region. Here we report the luciferase cDNA cloning for the larva of the Brazilian firefly Cratomorphus distinctus. The cDNA has 1978 bp and codes for a 547-residue-long polypeptide. Noteworthy, sequence comparison as well as functional properties show the highest degree of similarity with Lampyris noctiluca (93%) and Pyrocoelia spp. (91%) luciferases, suggesting a close phylogenetic relationship despite the geographical distance separating these species. The bioluminescence emission spectrum peaks at 550 nm and, as expected, is sensitive to pH, shifting to 605 nm at pH 6. The kinetic properties of the recombinant luciferase were similar to those of other firefly luciferases. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ENCORE: Enhanced code Galileo receiver for land management applications in Brazil

Taking benefit of the new Galileo ranging signals, the ENCORE (Enhanced Code Galileo Receiver) project aims to develop a low-cost Land Management Application to cover needs of the Brazilian market in terms of geo-referencing and rural/urban cadastre, using a low-cost Enhanced Galileo Code Receiver as baseline. Land management applications require precision and accuracy levels from a few to several decimetres that are under-met with current pseudorange-based receiver and over-met with phase observations. This situation leads either to a waste of resources, or to lack of accuracy. In this project, it is proposed to fill this gap using the new possibilities of the Galileo ranging signals, in particular E5 AltBOC and E1 CBOC. This approach reduces the cost of the end-user solution, helping the rapid penetration of Galileo technology outside Europe. ©2010 IEEE.

The Brazilian architecture in wood and the confrontations with the questions of the environment

Two discussions are imposed to the designers of wood constructions. The first one deals with the technical knowledge to project and execute buildings; the second one is concerned with the preservation of the environment, use of the wood in a sustainable way. The work presents the tendencies of the wood used in the Brazilian habitation architecture characterizing the used woods; how the construction technical solutions have developed and discusses about the necessity of using the wood in a conscious way, knowing its origin and control, sustainable use of the forests resources. It focalizes, mainly, the search of the designers to harmonize the use of the wood and the preservation of the forest biodiversity, when it deals with the native forest.

ENCORE: Enhanced Galileo code receiver for surveying applications

In this paper we describe the development of a low-cost high-accuracy Galileo Code receiver, user application software and positioning algorithms for land management applications, which have been implemented using a dedicated FPGA board and dual frequency Galileo E5/L1 Radio Frequency Front-End. The current situation of rural property surveying in Brazil is described and the use of code measurements from the new Galileo signals E5 AltBOC combined with E1 MBOC for use in land management applications is explored. We explain how such approach is expected to allow delivering an absolute positioning solution which could bridge the gap between receivers of high cost/complexity/accuracy based on carrier phase and receivers of lower cost/accuracy based on pseudorange observables. The system is presented together with a detailed description of main components: the Code Receiver and the Application Software. The work presented is part of an ongoing European-Brazilian consortium effort to explore the use of new Galileo for land management applications in Brazil and sponsored by the GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA).

The competitive challenge for Brazilian industry

Includes bibliography

Phenotypic changes and small mammal impoverishment on a Brazilian Atlantic Forest Island

Faunal impoverishment and distorted species compositions are common phenomena in oceanic islands; however, many land-bridge islands are poorly inventoried, especially in the Neotropics. We sampled a small mammal community on a land-bridge island (Anchieta Island) along the Brazilian coast. We found only one marsupial Didelphis aurita (Wied-Neuwied, 1826) and two rodent species Oligoryzomys nigripes (Olfers, 1818) and Trinomys iheringi (Thomas, 1911) during 12 months of live trapping and 9195 trap-nights. The diversity of rodents and marsupials was not explained by species-area relations, indicating possible past extinctions. The abundance of D. aurita and O. nigripes was approximately three times higher, while the abundance of T. iheringi was approximately four times lower than abundances reported from other Brazilian Atlantic Forest sites. The population of D. aurita exhibited many phenotypic changes; males were on average 8 % smaller and females produced 30 % less litters than those from the mainland and other land-bridge islands. The long history of forest disturbance, habitat loss, reduction in forest productivity, and the recent introduction of mesopredators may be the major drivers that explain the small mammal community composition on this island. © 2013 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

A poverty profile and functional aspects of Brazilian labour markets

Includes bibliography

Socialização linguageira, aspectos culturais e uso de code-switching em uma criança bilíngue

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Population Dynamics of Lepidoptera Pests in Eucalyptus urophylla Plantations in the Brazilian Amazonia

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The contribution of multiple use forest management to small farmers' annual incomes in the Eastern Amazon

Small-scale farmers in the Brazilian Amazon collectively hold tenure over more than 12 million ha of permanent forest reserves, as required by the Forest Code. The trade-off between forest conservation and other land uses entails opportunity costs for them and for the country, which have not been sufficiently studied. We assessed the potential income generated by multiple use forest management for farmers and compared it to the income potentially derived from six other agricultural land uses. Income from the forest was from (i) logging, carried out by a logging company in partnership with farmers' associations; and (ii) harvesting the seeds of Carapa guianensis (local name andiroba) for the production of oil. We then compared the income generated by multiple-use forest management with the income from different types of agrarian systems. According to our calculations in this study, the mean annual economic benefits from multiple forest use are the same as the least productive agrarian system, but only 25% of the annual income generated by the most productive system. Although the income generated by logging may be considered low when calculated on an annual basis and compared to incomes generated by agriculture, the one-time payment after logging is significant (US$5,800 to US$33,508) and could be used to implement more intensive and productive cropping systems such as planting black pepper. The income from forest management could also be used to establish permanent fields in deforested areas for highly productive annual crops using conservation agriculture techniques. These techniques are alternatives to the traditional land use based on periodic clearing of the forest. Nevertheless, the shift in current practices towards adoption of more sustainable conservation agriculture techniques will also require the technical and legal support of the State to help small farmers apply these alternatives, which aim to integrate forest management in sustainable agricultural production systems.

Referência e code-switching: traços de singularidade na linguagem de uma criança bilíngue

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Is a Genome a Codeword of an Error-Correcting Code?

Since a genome is a discrete sequence, the elements of which belong to a set of four letters, the question as to whether or not there is an error-correcting code underlying DNA sequences is unavoidable. The most common approach to answering this question is to propose a methodology to verify the existence of such a code. However, none of the methodologies proposed so far, although quite clever, has achieved that goal. In a recent work, we showed that DNA sequences can be identified as codewords in a class of cyclic error-correcting codes known as Hamming codes. In this paper, we show that a complete intron-exon gene, and even a plasmid genome, can be identified as a Hamming code codeword as well. Although this does not constitute a definitive proof that there is an error-correcting code underlying DNA sequences, it is the first evidence in this direction.

Oleoresin glands in copaiba (Copaifera trapezifolia Hayne: Leguminosae), a Brazilian rainforest tree

Although studies have addressed the chemical analysis and the biological activity of oleoresin in species of Copaifera, the cellular mechanisms of oleoresin production, storage, and release have rarely been investigated. This study detailed the distribution, ontogeny, and ultrastructure of secretory cavities and canals distributed in leaf and stem, respectively, of Copaifera trapezifolia, a Brazilian species included in a plant group of great economic interest. Axillary vegetative buds, leaflets, and portions of stem in primary and secondary growth were collected and processed in order to study the anatomy, histolocalization of substances, and ultrastructure. Secretory cavities are observed in the foliar blade and secretory canals in the petiolule and stem. They are made up of a uniseriate epithelium delimiting an isodiametric or elongated lumen. Biseriate epithelium is rarely observed and is a novelty for Leguminosae. Cavities and canals originate from ground meristem cells and the lumen is formed by schizogenesis. The content of the cavities and canals of both stem and leaf is oily and resinous, which suggests that the oleoresin could be extracted from the leaf instead of the stem. Phenolic compounds are also detected in the epithelial cell cytoplasm. Cavities and canals in the beginning of developmental stages have polarized epithelial cells. The cytoplasm is rich in smooth and rough endoplasmic reticula connected to vesicles or plastids. Smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum and plastids were found to be predominant in the epithelial cells of the secretory cavities and canals of C. trapezifolia. Such features testify the quantities of oleoresin found in the lumen and phenolic compounds in the epithelial cell cytoplasm of these glands. Other studies employing techniques such as correlative light electron microscopy could show the vesicle traffic and the compartmentalization of the produced substances in such glands.

Soil-mediated effects on potential Euterpe edulis (Arecaceae) fruit and palm heart sustainable management in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Euterpe edulis is an endangered species due to palm heart overharvesting, the most important non-timber forest product of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and fruit exploitation has been introduced as a low impacting alternative. However, E. edulis is a keystone species for frugivores birds, and even the impact of fruit exploitation needs to be better investigated. Since this species occurs over contrasting habitats, the establishment of site-specific standards and limits for exploitation may also be essential to achieve truly sustainable management. In this context, we sought to investigate how soil chemical composition would potentially affect E. edulis (Arecaceae) palm heart and fruit exploitation considering current standards of management. We studied natural populations found in Restinga Forest and Atlantic Rainforest remnants established within Natural Reserves of Sao Paulo State, SE Brazil, where 10.24 ha permanent plots, composed of a grid of 256 subplots (20 m x 20 m), were located. In each of these subplots, we evaluated soil chemical composition and diameter at breast height of E. edulis individuals. Additionally, we evaluated fruit yield in 2008 and 2009 in 20 individuals per year. The Atlantic Rainforest population had a much higher proportion of larger diameter individuals than the population from the Restinga Forest, as a result of habitat-mediated effects, especially those related to soil. Sodium and potassium concentration in Restinga Forest soils, which have strong negative and positive effect on palm growth, respectively, played a key role in determining those differences. Overall, the number of fruits that could be exploited in the Atlantic Rainforest was four times higher than in Restinga Forest. If current rules for palm heart and fruit harvesting were followed without any restriction to different habitats, Restinga Forest populations are under severe threat, as this study shows that they are not suitable for sustainable management of both fruits and palm heart. Hence, a habitat-specific approach of sustainable management is needed for this species in order to respect the demographic and ecological dynamics of each population to be managed. These findings suggest that any effort to create general management standards of low impacting harvesting may be unsuccessful if the species of interest occur over a wide range of ecosystems. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Element concentrations and stable isotope record of planktonic foraminifera of sediment cores from the northeastern Brazilian Continental Margin

Detailed 14C AMS data and isotope based stratigraphies from high-resolution paleoceanographic records for the last 22 ka of cores from the upper continental slope off NE Brazil reveal sedimentation rates of up to 100 cm per 1000 yr. Variations in the sediment composition relate to changes in the input of terrigenous material. The sedimentation is controlled by sea level and by the climatic regime of the hinterland. Short-term changes in the tropical wind field may act as a climatic trigger. The zonality of the SE trades was probably increased and the monsoonal activity over Africa reduced during the Younger Dryas period.